Chasing Shadows
by RikaHara
Summary: An old beacon is mysterious triggered on a far-off moon. And what was supposed to be just a curious investigation ends up with Noble Team stranded, with nothing better to do than unravel the world of secrets they had crash-landed in.
1. Chapter 1: Where the heck are we going!

_**Hello, Rikahara here. I was just dying to type something, and,well, here is what I came up with. Please leave feedback on if you think I should continue this. I'm also debating on the mood of the story, like if it should be filled with humor, or be something more along the lines of the darker side...(MWAHAHAAAA!) imput is much appreciated, thanks! **_

_ Riza hit the ground running, bullets wizzing around her, some collided with her armor, sending the shields sparking, but she kept running, shotgun raised high, her target in her sights._

_" We can't hold 'em any longer!" A soldier screamed from behind his barricade. Seconds later his blood was splattered against the ground . The spartan reloaded her weapon and eyed the burning pelican, corpses of the recently slain strewn about her. Without hesitation she threw aside the broken bay door and entered._

_Her target lay right in front of her, unguarded, his once clean suit ripped and splattered with blood, most likely his own, by the pained look on his face. He looked up as she entered, his eyes twitching with fear. He knew what was coming._

_" So, it finally takes a spartan to bring me down?" He coughed weakly, " how long has ONI's dog been hounding me, eh? "_

_In response Riza pulled out her pistol and calmly aimed it at the wounded man's head. Flames of the burning craft reflecting in her vizor._

_"No...listen," He raised his bloodied, trembling hands, a data chip clenched in one of them, " please, it...it doesn't have to be this way. You know...you know why they sent you to find me? I had all their dirty little secrets. I was going to expose them for who they really were...the..people need to know!" His body shook as he erupted into a fit of wet, bloody coughs. "Please, don't kill me. I can help...help you find out things..don't you want to know about the spartan program...what they've done to you?...please. I'm doing the right thing."_

_" You are in possession of illegal documents, and are attempting to sell them to hostile powers. That qualifies you as a traitor, and a threat to Earth and her colonies. You must be eradicated." She pulled the trigger._

_" My employers wish to recognize your success of your mission. We congratulate you on a job well done." The ONI officer said as he accepted the data chip. Riza was now standing in the hanger of The Blazing Dawn, a battle cruiser, hours after the mission._

_She saluted, 'Thank you, sir," and turned to go, but the officer called her back, handing her a file. She looked at it, curious._

_" It's not time to wash the guts off your armor, yet, Lt. There's been a change of plans. You've been reassigned."_

_" May I ask to who?" She replied, unable to hide the growing curiosity in her voice. This was new._

_" Congratulations, your lone wolf days are over. We're assigning you to a team of spartans stationed on the planet Reach, which is where this ship is heading, actually. They're a little low on man power, and could use a little assistance."_

_" Who are they, sir?"_

_"Nobel Team."_

Noble Six opened her eyes, a yawn escaping from her mouth. She was glad to be awake, dreaming about her past wasn't something she particularly enjoyed. The hum of the of the Pelican's engine's filled her ears as she sat up and stretched. Around her sat the other members of Noble Team, their faces lost in the dim light, passing the time in their own ways.

Jun was in the corner, using a toothbrush to clean his sniper rifle, whispering softly to it as he did so. Jorge sat across from him, counting ammo. Emile was leaning against the wall across from Six, unmoving, his shotgun in his lap. Carter was no doubt up in the cockpit with Kat, discussing statistics and the mission.

With nothing better to do she reached beside her and picked up her helmet, her fingers tracing the various scratches on its surface. Battle scars, old and new. She couldn't begin to count how many firefights she charged into, how many assassinations she carried out. But all those time she had been by herself, a lone wolf in the midst of countless enemies, with no one to back her up. But now things had changed. She was no longer Riza. Now, she was Noble Six, part of a team of elite spartans. She would adapt to this change, and carry this mission out to the best of her ability, with, or without, the rest of her team. Speaking about the mission...

" Hate to break the silence, but does anyone know where exactly we are going?"

Three heads simultaneously swivelled in her direction. " I was in the belief that you knew, Lieutenant." Jun said, putting down his toothbrush.

" Great, the commander is dragging us on another one of his stupidly pointless missions to God-knows-where." Emile groaned.

" Can your grumbling," Jorge rumbled in his deep voice, "I'm sure Carter will fill us in when he feels like it..."

As if to prove his point, the cockpit door was thrown open and Carter entered. "Listen up, men." At the sound of his commanding voice, the four members of Noble Team couldn't help but snap to attention.

" You are probably wondering where we are headed, so I'll tell you."

"About time..." Emile muttered under his breath, but one look from Carter shushed him.

" At this moment we are approaching a small moon not too far from Reach. 50 years ago, a tiny colony was planted on its surface. It thrived for a few years, then mysteriously disappeared!" He said darkly, waving his fingers for suspense. "No traces were left, so know one knows what happened to it. Until a few days ago when Kat picked up a signal from the moon. It seemed like an old distress beacon had been triggered, but no one knows why. So, we are going to investigate it!"

Jun, Emile, and Jorge looked at him, their faces skeptical.

" You pulled me away from blasting covies to go on a ghost hunt?" Emile exclaimed.

" Nice story, Commander, but its probably nothing, really. I mean, think of all the possibilities on how the beacon could of been triggered. A malfunction...a storm...and think about all the germs that could be on that planet! To name a few..." Jun began to rattle off on his huge list of germs and diseases, but was interrupted by Jorge.

The large spartan held up a hand, shrugging apologetically, "no offense, sir, but don't we have more important things to do?"

" Aw, come on, men," Carter threw up his hands in disgust, all seriousness washed from his face, " Don't you want to take a break from the usual covie blasting? What has happened to your sense of adventure? And I bet when we go down there we're going to find adventure all right, and action, and comedy, and romance!" He waggled his eyebrows at Six.

'Well...if you put it like that...NO." Emile sat down again. The Commander was about to reply when Kat called from the cockpit. He turned around and went back to her, the rest of the team following in his wake.

"What is it, Kat?"

" Sir, we are approaching the moon." She said, sitting at the controls. Six looked ahead to see the moon that they were approaching, covered with green, which most likely meant that the terrain was heavily forested.

"Good job,' Carter put his hand on the back of her seat, "target the closest landing zone to the beacon and we'll set off from there-"

Suddenly the ship rattled and shook, warning lights began to flare. Six stumbled back against the wall, looking around. What was happening?

"What the hell is happening?" Carter yelled.

" I do not know, sir!" Kat yelled back, " I am detecting a massive energy, heading straight towards us, "her hands flew like lightning over the controls, her face scrunched up with concentration, " its messing with the systems, the engines are cutting out. I don't think I can reboot in time."

" What does that mean?" Jun squeaked.

" It means strap yourself in and pray that your ass remains intact. We're going to crash." Kat said calmly.

" Oh snap." Jun muttered.

Six ran back to her seat and strapped herself in, then she slipped her helmet back over her head, feeling a bit more safe. Beside her Jorge, Jun, and Emile did the same. Jorge looked a little pale. He caught her looking at him.

"I never liked flying..." He smiled weakly.

" Don't you even dare think about vomiting on me!" Jun waggled a finger at him in warning, his sniper rifle firmly clutched in his other arm. Emile, who was sitting next to Jorge, unbuckled himself and hurriedly moved to another seat.

Six gripped her straps as suddenly the pelican lurched and rolled, a sign that they had broken through the atmosphere. There was a whooshing noise and everything went into a spin. The female spartan held on tight, gasping for breath, her heart in her throat, . She could hear Carter yelling over his comm, and Jorge making a strangled noise, like he had just lost his dinner. A loud screeching sound filled her ears, blocking out all thought. Then a crash, and all went black.

TOBECONTINUED!


	2. Chapter 2: Rough landing

**Hey the second chapter is up! Too bad its boring! Cuz...this is more of an inbetweener. AKA, nothing really happens. *is sad* This is just to get the plot going. And btw, I'm trying to start out the mood light, then go darker as the story progresses. IF the story progresses...FEED MAH EGO, PLEASE! Lol, btw, if you want to see any Six/(put character name here) action, please comment. Thanks! **

Waking up to find that you've crash-landed on a far off moon is never a fun experience. Waking up to find that you've crash landed, AND that you're covered from head to tow in vomit, just makes it a whole lot worse.

Jun let out a groan of pure unbridled disgust and tried to sit up, then realized that he was still strapped into his seat...which was laying 30 feet away from the burning wreck of the pelican. Un-buckling himself he sat up, wiping the putrid bar off of him. Could this day get any worse? Standing up he realized that he had fallen on his sniper rifle, bending it almost in half. He stifled a hysterical sob and looked around him at the crash site. They had crashed in a small clearing surrounded by towering trees, their branches seemingly almost scraping the sky. Grey clouds swirled overhead, unleashing a mild drizzle onto the forest. Where were the rest of his team?

As if to answer his question a figure appeared from around the side of the crashed ship. It was Noble Six in her grey and purple armor, her messy blonde A-line swirling in the wind. Spotting him, she waved him over.

"All team members present and accounted for, sir." She said she and Jun got back to Carter and the rest of the team, who were holed up amongst the trees.

The Commander smiled with relief, "Glad to see you made it, Jun." He went over to pat him on the back, but thought twice when he saw the barf splattered across the sniper's armor. He took a step back, trying to not to wrinkle his nose at the smell. " How did you fair through the crash? Did you sustain any injuries?"

" Only a few bruises, and my sniper rifle didn't make it. But I've faired worse." Came the reply. Jun looked over the rest of the team. No one seemed too seriously injured, except Emile. Kat stood over the spartan, who's left arm hung limp out of its socket. He could see her growing frustration as she tried to administer some First-Aid to him.

" Quit being an ass and let me help you. Your no good to us with a broken arm!" She huffed, reaching for his arm, but Emile pushed her aside and sat up. Grabbing his injured limb he gave a forceful push up, then violent jerked down. There was a snapping noise that even made Jorge wince. Emile turned to Kat, waving his now not-so-broken arm in front of her face, the skull carved onto his helmet seemed to mock her. Giving an exasperated sigh, the female spartan walked over to Carter, shaking her head.

"It seems everyone is alright." She put her hands on her hips.

" Good to know. now, I need a status report. How much ammo and supplies we have, when can we expect an evac, and most important of all, where exactly are we? "

" By my calculations, we had a weeks worth of rations stored in the pelican, but most of it was destroyed in the crash, now I estimate we have 3 days worth, tops. We could always use more ammo, sir, but we still have enough clips to go around." She gazed up at the darkening sky. " My first priority was to activate the distress signal, but whatever screwed our systems is still going strong. I can't get a signal through. We're on our own."

The spartans were silent as they digested the information. For a few minutes only the soft patter of rainfall could be heard amongst the tress, and the distant echo of thunder. Finally Carter spoke up, the look in his eyes as strong and determined as ever.

" Not the situation I was hoping for when I started this mission. But then again, no mission ever really turns out the way it was expected. We spartans are trained to adapt. Don't forget that training." He slipped on his helmet. " Kat, did you get a location for the beacon?"

" Yes sir, I estimated we landed at least 20 miles west of it. Evidently, its also the same area where I detected the energy surge."

Carter nodded. " Gear up men, we have some trekking to do. The mission priority is changing. Find the source of the energy surge and find a way to disable it so we can set off a distress signal and get home. Now move out."

Jorge stood up and hefted his large gatling gun over his shoulder, carrying it like it weighed nothing more than a feather. The others slipped on their helmets and picked up their weapons, following in their leaders tracks as they set off.

Jun took a tally on his weaponry. Just a measly pistol. He sighed and twirled it on his fingers, wishing for the heavy feel of his rifle. There was a tap on his shoulder and he turned to see Jorge, holding a sniper rifle in his hands.

" I found a spare under the seat. Hopes this makes up for the mess I made on your armor." He said sheepishly. Jun took the weapon firmly in his grasp, smiling underneath his helmet, and began walking.

It was dead silent in the forest. Not a thing was stirring. Carter took the lead, with Kat on his heels, pistol at the ready. Jun and Emile were in the middle, the pair making an imposing sight. Definitely a force to be reckoned with. Jun and Six brought up the rear, their boots crunching on the dead needles that carpeted the forest floor. No one spoke as they walked, but Carter could guess what was on everyone's mind. No one was willing to say it, but they were all more than a little peeved about Carter's quest for adventure, action, and romance. Instead, now their stranded on a small moon. There was no point to this "mission". If he were in there shoes, he would be a little pissed, too, he guessed.

Hours passed, and the silence waned on. Finally Jun couldn't take it anymore. He snapped.

" Hey guys, how about we sing a song!"

"NO." came the unanimous reply.

" Seriously? I know we're all in a pretty crappy mood here. And I read in an article once that moods can enhance, or degrade, performance. So, maybe if we weren't all so grumpy this mission would go faster!"

"Jun." Emile turned around.

"What?"

'Shut-up." Emile faced forward again.

The sniper huffed and drummed an impatient rhythm on his weapon. He glanced sideways at Six, who was walking beside him.

"Your probably pissed, too. Huh?" He asked her.

Six didn't even look at him. "My emotions are obsolete to my performance. Whatever happens, I will get the job done."

Jun got the sense that she didn't really want to talk, so he remained silent. That woman was all business. Despite being part of the team, she always seemed to distance herself away from the others. Jun itched to find out why. He heard from Kat that Noble 6 was what they called a "lone wolf" but everything other than that was classified. He was dying to talk to her, for her to tell her story. But by the cold manner she conducted herself, he doubted that was going to happen in his lifetime.

Suddenly Carter raised his fist, and the group halted. "There's our target up ahead. From here on out we run fast and silent. Be prepared for anything." Noble Team spread out and they moved forward. The trees began to thin out. Shafts of dark sky could be seen through the green. Up ahead the trees stopped, from then on it was nothing but grass for a few miles or so.

"The beacon originated from this point, sir." Kat spoke up, suspicion in her voice.

"Any signs of hostiles?"

"Negative." Emile replied.

Carter flicked his wrist, and Noble Team crept out into the open.

'Spread out and search." Noble 1 commanded.

Carter shouldered his weapon and eyed his surroundings. "See anything, Kat?"

"Not yet, sir." She replied in her usual brisk manner, then her toned softened. "Some "adventure" huh?'

"Yeah, well, not one of my best decisions. I admit."

" Noble Team is still behind you. Don't forget that."

"Yeah, but they sure are grumpy..."

"They have a reason."

"You know, I'm grumpy, too." Carter moved closer to her.

" And how am I supposed to do anything about that?" Kat crossed her arms.

"Oh, I have a few ideas...' He grinned underneath his helmet and leaned in closer, but was interuptted by Jorge.

"Oi, come take a look at this!" The hulking spartan yelled. Walking over Carter saw Emile and Jun pull out a dented beacon, flashing in the grass.

"This little thing caused us to crash?' Jorge scoffed.

"No...this is just a beacon. An albeit outdated one..." Kat knelt down and began to examine the device. Opening up its compartment she began hook up some wires to her data pad. Her brows furrowing with concentration. "This is around fifty years old, it matches the date of the colony. But...this is strange...it was recently activated. Only a few days ago, to be precise."

"Well, who activated it, then? There's no one here but us." Emile said.

"Um, I wouldn't be so sure about that..." Jun got down on his knees and motioned to grooves cut into the ground. "Someone had to drag the beacon here. These are recent, too."

The sniper began to follow the grooves, the others followed behind him. 20 feet away they stopped.

"Well, that was a fun snipe hunt." Emile muttered, 'can we go home now?"

Jorge pushed him, "Quit being negative." He scolded. "I don't understand, why did they stop?"

"I will find out..." Jun began to look around.

" -Looks like someone did some digging..." Jorge pointed to the upturned soil.

"I'm detecting something on my sensors." Six spoke up.

"I'm getting it, too.' Jorge said.

" Energy levels are increasing." Kat put in.

"Then there's something below us. "

"Most likely a cave of some sort. Hm, I wonder if-" Jun took out a small knife and began to examine the soil. Suddenly the ground gave way and all six of them went plummeting into darkness.


	3. Chapter 3: Lets make this serious

Carter landed on his knees, his armor _thunk'd _heavily as a torrent of dirt clods pelted his back. The rest of his team was right behind him, methodically digging themselves out of the mini cave-in they found themselves in.

A few feet above, light filtered in through the new hole in the ceiling, illuminating the rusting walls of the large metal duct they stood in. It wasn't built for someone with the height of a spartan. Jorge stopped his shoulders as with a tug he pulled his gun free, sending up dust clouds.

"What have we here." Carter mused.

"No doubt the colonists set these up." Kat ran her robotic finger down the delapidated wall . "Any military operation would of used more durable materials."

As if to prove her point, the duct decided it was a good time to finally give out under the combined weight of the spartans. There was a shudder, then bolts spent and broke as metal gave way, sending Noble Team plummeting down into darkness. Again.

The spartan Commander couldn't see, but he could definitely feel the numerous wires, debris, and pipes he was inadvertently colliding with, then ramming through on his way down. Idly, he wondered when he would hit the ground when-

_THUD_

He rolled into a landing, making way for Kat as she came crashing down, Jun on her heels. Activating his night vision, he looked around. They had reached the bottom alright. His two feet stood on the now dented grate, courtesy of his landing. The fan beneath was bent and missing a few propellers.

" Looks like we found ourselves an air shaft." He nodded towards Kat.

Slowly she rose to her full height. He could tell by the rhythm tapped on her pistol that she was not happy with the structural integrity of the complex they had stumbled into.

"An underground colony.' Jun whistled, 'odd idea, but a good one if you don't want to be found. What's your opinion, boss? This place is not in the most liveable condition. Think there's anyone home?"

"Find out later. We're missing Jorge, Emile, and Six."

"I can't reach them over their comms." Kat intoned.

Jun shrugged. 'They most likely fell down a different hole. Possible a lower level?

"Great. Gear up, we're starting a search and possible rescue. Jun, find us a way out of here."

_**Somewhere else, deeper down inside the complex...**_

It was so dark, and Six was wondering where the sun went. Then her soldier's mind kicked out the shock and she didn't care anymore. First things first, picking herself off the floor, she checked her weapon. Good, it was still in working order. Then she eyed her surroundings.

She was in a large were-house like space, a multitude of crates, blankets of dust wrapped around them, surrounded her.

"Noble 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5, come in." She commanded, then let out a breath. No answer, then she was on her own. Good.

A silent cat in a box jungle. It seemed not even a speck of dust was disturbed as she drifted past, nothing but a ghost in the shadows as she patiently worked her way out of the make-shift maze.

At lenght she found herself out of the aging rows of cargo and supplies and now faced a wall. And Jorge, who leaned against it, the flashlight from his pistol illumating his scarred face.

"You did not respond. " He could hear the cold accusation in her voice.

The hulking spartan tapped his stubbled head. "I would of if I could find my helmet."

"When I over viewed your files, I suspected a member of an elite team to manage his equipment better."

"It slipped off when I hit a duct. Sometimes it happens. " He said matter-of-factly, ignoring her accusations, and straightened up. "How about we find our way out of this place. I don't like it. Something's wrong here."

Together they moved along , at last coming to a gaping wound in the wall. It must of once been a door, now memorial to some sort of explosion, debris and towering sheets of metal lay piled together, blocking their way. Bending down, Jorge could feel a draft coming through one of the gaps in the pile. Something was behind there. He looked up at Six, who nodded.

With fluent grace, she scaled the pile, her lightly placed feet causing little stir in the debris. She reached the top, with was only ten or fifteen feet above them. She paused, and Jorge could almost see the icily smug look she wore underneath her visor as she hopped over the other side.

Fine, if she wanted to do it the fancy way. Him, he liked to keep things simple. Rubbing his hands together he set to work. Giving a heave, he grabbed a large sheet of metal and pulled it out, puffs of debris chasing after it. Muscles bulging, it set it down behind him, peering at the now cleared way with a pleased eye. He would like to see her do that!

Six only stared at him, coldly turning around when he grinned and started to laugh. Shaking his head good naturedly, he trailed her into a stone hallway.

Broken lights hung suspended above them as they walked, their boots crunching on the dirty floor.

"Someone must be here." Jorge looked around, gatling gun resting on one shoulder, "beacons just don't set up themselves."

"I'm detecting something." A energy spike appeared on Six's HUD, somewhere close by. They followed it to its source, which just so happened to be a very large and heavily reinforced door.

"I have a feeling something very important is behind that." This place just kept getting stranger and stranger. He was beginning to wonder is any of it would make sense any time soon.

"Cover me." The female spartan wrapped her hands the vault wheel, bracing herself, she began to slowly turn it. It creaked in protest, but succumbed to her strength.

The door, 12 inches thick, swung lazily open, letting out a warm, musty vapor. Jorge wrinkled his nose. "Something hasn't been aired out in fifty years..." The opened of the door must of activated something, since there was the low chugging sound of a generating, and a sole light flickered on.

He began to step in, but Six took lead. Battle rifle in hand, she crept in, ready for anything. Jorge would of charged right in, but she held out a hand.

"Hold. We were ordered not do harm to any colonists we might find."

"IF we find any colonists..." The odds weren't looking so great right now. The room was undescribably gloomy, thanks to the fact he had no helmet. He eyed the shadowy objects surrounding them. Things that looked like tables, monitors...where those test tubes?

That was when one of the objects moved. Without warning, a shape detached itself from the wall and lunged at Six.

"Oh, sod it!" Jorge grunted and opened fire.

**TO**

**Be**

**Con-**

**TINUED!**

_**okay, its been almost a full year, but here it is! its here! so there! I tried to make improvements, like actually maybe trying to match Noble Team's actual personalities, and not just the ones I dubbed them with in my Christmas story. (well, Six's personality is hopefully completely original, since he/she didn't really have any ingame...) Please review and tell me what you think? any ideas? **_


	4. Chapter 4: Brave spartans And Jun

_**RikaHara here to say that I HAVE RETURNED! After a busy year full of life crap and forgotten passwords, I've finally been able to get back onto my account! and to commemorate this occasion, here's another chapter! Im sorry, I'm kinda rusty. Please tell me what you think. thank you! :)**_

* * *

Kat didn't like was she was seeing. Craning her neck, she glared distastefully at the monolithic stone door that rose before them. They had come out of the dusty tunnels into a large cavern, and the door was the only things blocking their path. It was huge, large enough for several pelicans to go through at once. She felt like a tiny insignificant spec next to this behemoth, and the feeling displeased her.

Next to her, Jun whistled. "I've never seen anything quite like that before. Do you think the colonists built it?" He shined his helmet light into the shadows, trying to catch a glimpse of the ceiling. His attempts were in vain.

"More like discovered it," she replied, walking along side it, examining the crude carvings that decorated its stone surface. "Look how the tunnel breaks into the cavern, it's likely that they just stumbled upon it by accident. Besides, the work on this door is too rough for laser tools. It looks almost hand carved."

"So, what does that mean, exactly?" Carter kicked at the door curiously.

"It means that this door has been around longer than fifty years." The female Spartan frowned underneath her helmet.

Jun found a nearby rock and sat on it, placing his sniper rifle on his lap as he stared up at the primordial wonder in awe. "Well, if the colonists didn't carve that thing out of the cavern wall, then who did?"

"I don't care," Carter cut in, "I just want to know if it can actually open."

"You really want to do that, Boss man?"

"Any other way out we found was collapsed by rubble. This might be our only way out, you have any objections?"

'No….just strange premonitions."

'Shake it off, Jun, superstition has no place in a spartan's head. Kat, can you get that door open?"

"Look at it," she replied curtly. "No control panel or working mechanism. Not even a basic hinge. This door isn't going to open. " Scowling, she ran her hand over one of the carvings, an odd looking swirl with runes all around it.

Suddenly, the door gave an ominous rumble. The cavern walls shook as dirt clods showered from the ceiling. Carter grabbed Kat's arm and pulled her away, instinctively taking out his sidearm. Jun jumped up, the three Spartans tightening into a protective circled.

"Kat, what did you do?" Carter tensed up, a strange feeling creeping up his spine. The air suddenly grew cold as a loud scraping sound could be heard from behind the door, echoing through the cavern and down the tunnel. Something big was coming.

Jun sighed, raising his rifle. "Didn't think I'd ever say this, but at times like these I really miss Emile."

TOBECONTINUED


End file.
